Prior to the events of the 1954 film
Godzilla, Dr. Daisuke Serizawa was a junior colleague of the paleontologist
Dr. Kyohei Yamane. He was secretly in love with Dr. Yamane's daughter,
Emiko. Serizawa also served in active combat during
World War II, where he lost his right eye in battle; he wore an eyepatch to cover his empty eye-socket. After the war, Serizawa focused his life onto studying science. While studying oxygen, he accidentally discovered a devastating chemical reaction capable of creating a superweapon, the "Oxygen Destroyer." The resulting reaction would split oxygen atoms into a fluid, which then forcibly removes the oxygen from water and liquefies any organic material.
Godzilla (1954) Shortly after his first time of witnessing the first rampage from the giant monster, known as
Godzilla, Serizawa decided to reveal the Oxygen Destroyer to Emiko. After horrifying Emiko with the destructive effects from the Oxygen Destroyer, he came down to an agreement with her, explaining that he would not let the world know anything about his weapon of mass-destruction at all. Serizawa remained inside his own lab during Godzilla's remaining attacks on
Tokyo, where he continued his research and experimentations on oxygen. After Godzilla's second attack on Tokyo, Emiko chose to break her promise she made with Serizawa and told
Hideto Ogata about the Oxygen Destroyer, believing that it would be the only way to defeat Godzilla. Emiko and Ogata both went to Serizawa's lab, hoping to convince him to use the Oxygen Destroyer against the giant monster. But at first, Serizawa refused to use it, hypothesizing that people would exploit the use of his weapon in the future, claiming it would cause more destruction than
nuclear weapons. He briefly was upset with Ogata in defense of his decision, but he paused when seeing a news report on the television, showing the apocalyptic state Tokyo was in after Godzilla's attack. Serizawa, intending to make sure that the secret behind his Oxygen Destroyer would remain a secret, burned all of his research notes, assuring Emiko that this would be the only way to prevent his secret from being exploited in the future. Serizawa and Ogata went with a group of scientists and reporters onboard a boat to Tokyo Bay, finding Godzilla resting on the seabed. Serizawa and Ogata dove to the bottom of the ocean, after checking that it was going to be used correctly. Serizawa detonates the Oxygen Destroyer, and Ogata was raised back to the surface of Tokyo Bay. As the Oxygen Destroyer detonated, once Serizawa found out that his invention was a success, he told Emiko and Ogata to live a happy life together and then severed his line, taking the secret of the Oxygen Destroyer to his grave. Both Serizawa and Godzilla were killed from the powers of the Oxygen Destroyer.
Later film appearances In the 1995 film
Godzilla vs. Destoroyah, it features scientist Kensaku Ijuin developing "Micro-Oxygen," a substance echoing Serizawa's work. Emiko, now older, warns her niece Yukari Yamane of its dangers, drawing direct parallels to the Oxygen Destroyer. Serizawa also briefly appears in stock footage from the original film. Pictures of him also appear inside of Emiko's home. In the 2001 film
Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, the use of the Oxygen Destroyer in the 1954 film was covered up by the Japanese government to prevent the
JSDF from facing consequences, and gave them credit for killing Godzilla. That decision would eventually haunt them as Godzilla returns and the JSDF is shown to be unable to defeat the monster. And in the 2002 film
Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla, it recaps the events of the 1954 film where Serizawa kills the original Godzilla with the Oxygen Destroyer. == Appearances ==